Children abusive due to neglect and porn

The vast majority of the 37% of children who are sexually abusing other children are not classic paedophiles but abuse due to neglect, emotional, physical or sexual abuse, and increasingly because of exposure to porn or an over-sexualised homeplace.

But child offenders respond particularly well to early intervention treatment, with international research showing a repeat offence rate as low as 8%-10%. However, unless you are living in Dublin or Galway, there are no services tailored to child offenders.

Joan Cherry, director of the Northside Inter Agency Project, which is one of only three such treatment centres in the country, admitted that “every day we have either parents or professionals ringing begging for help, but we can only cater for Dublin”.

This means the only option for offenders outside Dublin or Galway is private treatment or, when that isn’t an option, no treatment at all.

Kieran McGrath, a social work consultant and member of the National Organisation for the Treatment of Offenders, said early intervention treatment should play a vital part in a national child protection strategy “as most men start abusing in their teens”.

“You need to provide an abuser treatment service if you really want to invest in child protection” he said.

Ms Cherry said many child offenders are isolated, don’t have a history of forming solid relationships, “and turn to other children to meet their needs” without any real sexual interest in them.

“They can also come from stable families and are becoming addicted to pornographic images that then they want to recreate in real life and will take advantage of another child,” she said.

“The incidents where pornography and over-sexualisation is a factor are increasing,” Mr McGrath said.

“And where the child has an existing vulnerability such as already exhibited antisocial behaviour, the two can be a potent mix. This pornography isn’t doctor and nurse role-playing; it’s serious, humiliating sex acts.”

Ms Cherry is a member of the Ferns 5 group, set up to look at the development of a standardised assessment and treatment programme for offenders. It has produced two reports but needs HSE investment if its recommendations are to be implemented.

A report by the Rape Crisis Network and Children at Risk in Ireland, which was published yesterday, revealed that 37% of those abusing children are children.

Northside Inter Agency Project provides treatment to children aged 13-18. It also provides family therapy.